Running Lines
by xxHeadInTheStarsxx
Summary: Nate just had to prove to Alex that he was capable of both singing and acting. It was too bad that Alex was a little too stubborn to actually admit it. Nalex fluff. One-shot.


**A/N: **So this is basically something created out of my boredom. I'm sad to say that it doesn't make much sense from my perspective--but that's only because I _SUCK _at fluff. Yes, I actually attempted at fluff. And I ended up with this...unidentified story. Bleh, whatever. BUT: this is my 25th story! Yay! And I just _had _to make this a Nalex story because they were the reason why I even started writing on FF. Plus, it's been a long time since I've written anything Nalex related.

Oh! And tell me I'm not the only one who melts whenever Nick sings "_And I'm just trying to be honest with myself, with you, with the world_" every time you listen to Give Love a Try? :)

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Running Lines

"_**And I'm just trying to be honest with myself, with you, with the world**_**—**" Nate Gray jumped to the sound of the door opening with a boom. He almost dropped his precious acoustic guitar as he spun around, ready to give the person who interrupted his songwriting time a deadly glare. "Ever heard of knocking? You should try it sometime." he hissed at the person. Nate instantly relaxed his frigid body to see his girlfriend entering the room, her signature amused grin sketched onto her face as usual. "Oh, sorry, I thought you were somebody else." He said quickly, saving himself from an earful.

"No it was my bad. I know you get all prissy when you're writing. I didn't know you were at the moment." Alex Russo immediately apologized once she noticed the guitar in her boyfriend's hands. Despite the fact that Nate was _still _in the progress of writing yet another song, Alex continued to make her way towards him, not caring that he was busy one bit. "So let's see what new song you have so far." she said, playfully grabbing the sheet from Nate's hands.

Nate rolled his eyes at his girlfriend's antics. He would be lying if he said he wasn't used to her behavior though. "I'm still writing ya know." he stated the obvious.

"And now I'm reading it." Alex replied with a cheeky smirk. She glanced down at the paper and began to read aloud: "_**You like driving on a Sunday. You like taking off on Monday. You're like a dream, a dream come true**_**.** Aw, Nate, this is so sweet! Only you are capable of making the cheesiest lyrics sound beautiful." Alex complimented, handing Nate his music sheet back.

"Cheesy? Did you just call my hard work cheesy? Not cool, Russo. Not cool." Nate said, feigning offense.

Alex laughed in return, nudging Nate's arm. "Oh relax. It's a good kind of cheesy." she said, sticking her tongue out. "What's it for?" she asked, secretly hoping Nate would say that she inspired yet another romantic song.

"Oh, our new TV show wanted us to write a couple of songs. Apparently, my character has a love interest in the beginning, and he falls in love with her so quickly that he manages to come up with this chart topper of a song. I call it: 'Give Love Another Try'." Nate explained with a nonchalant hug, revealing the modesty he truly had inside of him.

Alex's smile immediately vanished at the words 'love interest'. Nate and another girl – in love? Who cares if it was television; Alex Russo will not allow that! Not that Alex would actually admit aloud that she was feeling envy. She was _surely _not the type of girl who clings onto her boyfriend, the one who gets jealous as their boyfriend merely glimpses at another girl, or the kind who actually loves (obsesses over) her man so much that she'll literally murder the girl who dares to come in between them. No, Alex was a cool, calm, collected type of girlfriend. Not that psychopathic freak she has always feared of becoming.

She gave Nate a stern look, folding her arms across her chest seriously. "You have a _love interest_?" she asked in a darker tone, almost as if she was ready to slash a knife through the poor girl who won the misfortune of being Nate's on-screen girlfriend. (So much for being _not _jealous.)

Nate raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Yes, actually, I do. Why? Is it bothering you?" He teased. "Are you feeling a bit…jealous?"

Alex gasped. "No! I am not! It's just…why _you _out of the three?! Why couldn't it be Shane or Jason? Your writers should know that you have a girlfriend already. They should have just awarded your brothers with a love interest – _not you_." she ranted, attempting to save herself from the awaiting humiliation. Alex bit her lip, realizing that she's making it sound like she's been eaten up by the green monster instead.

"Yeah right. You're jealous." Nate smirked, enjoying every moment of this. He couldn't say that he's seen Alex showing intense emotion like she is now anytime in the past. His girlfriend was known to be carefree, giggly, and even a bit obnoxious. She never showed any hints of worry or jealousy in their relationship, even with his infamous reputation and status in the media: Alex Russo didn't do jealousy. Seeing her now, all flustered and stuttering because he was going to have a love interest, was something he was never going to let her live down.

"I am _not_. It's just…I – I'm – uh – I'm not jealous!" Alex stuttered, getting frustrated. She huffed furiously as Nate began to laugh uncontrollably. "You're such a jerk." She muttered indignantly.

Nate wrapped an arm around his seething girlfriend's arms, pulling her closely. "Okay, I'm sorry. It's okay to be jealous though," he grinned. "I'm Nate Gray after all."

"Ugh, and your head just grew five sizes bigger, Nathaniel." Alex scoffed with an eye roll. She then looked at her boyfriend straight in the eyes, her lips finally forming a smile. "But now that you're actually going to the television industry, I think I owe you a few tips." She offered, trying to change the subject.

Nate raised an eyebrow, oblivious to the change in topic. "And why would I need that?" he asked. "No offense, but I think I'm fine on my own."

"Fine, don't take my offer. Actually – you don't really need it anyways. You're practically playing yourself. It's not really much a challenge to play." Alex retorted with a smirk.

"What are you saying?" Nate asked, knitting his eyebrows together.

"I'm saying that you're just another singer who wants to be an actor, even if it means playing yourself. All you artists walk down this road at one point of your life. Face it: you people with musical drives yearn to be on the big screen as well as the radio." Alex grinned, stating her opinion flawlessly. Nate sat there, gaping at his girlfriend's words. It was almost as if she just said… "Just admit it, Nate. Acting is better than singing." Alex concluded, knowing she hit Nate's sensitive spot. …Oh God, she said it. And with that, Nate forgot entirely what their previous conversation was about.

"You take that back!" Nate gasped, his eyes widening as every second ticked by.

"No, because it's true. You want to be like me." Alex giggled victoriously.

"Ew. Why would I want to be like you?" Nate said, pretending to gag.

Alex glared at him, smacking his arm for his comment. "I meant that you want to be an actor now instead of developing your already successful musical career. But you should seriously stick to singing your pretty boy songs in those tight jeans, Nate. Acting is not your thing."

"What do you mean?! I can act!" Nate defended himself.

Alex snorted in response. "Please, I've seen you act before. You're not that good at it."

"Well at least I could sing." Nate snapped crossly.

"And I can't?" Alex asked incredulously. Sure, she didn't have the best voice, but it's not like she was terrible. She was capable of hitting a note accurately after all.

Nate took this to his advantage now that Alex was back on the lower end. "You can, but it's not like it should be your profession. I've heard you sing. But you should seriously stick to acting in your wizard-y outfits on set, Alex. Singing is not your thing." He mimicked his girlfriend from earlier, earning another malicious glare from her.

Alex fumed as she sunk into her seat. "Loser." she mumbled underneath her breath.

"Hey, I'm just saying what you said. It's like you actors kill for a spot on the charts once you've made your name on the big screen, as if being on television isn't enough for you. You want your voice to be heard along with your face to be seen, Alex. Actors want to be singers just as much as singers want to be actors." he smirked. "Example: you and me."

"Ugh, you suck, Nathaniel." Alex groaned, lightly hitting Nate's chest.

"I try my best, Alexandra." Nate chuckled in return. "But seriously: singing owns acting. It's the law." he added seriously.

"That will never be true in a million years." Alex declared. "Anyone can sing. It takes a true professional to act."

"You're kidding me, right? You've got it wrong. Anyone can act. It's just reading and memorizing lines on a sheet of paper. It takes a warm soul and pure heart to carry out a note that's wondrous enough to melt a girl's heart." Nate explained deeply.

"Please. I bet if we rehearse your stupid scene with your fake girlfriend, you'd be stumbling over every single word because you weren't able to memorize a thing." Alex predicted.

"I'll prove to you that I can act just as much as I can sing." Nate promised. He grabbed his script from his back pocket and handed it over to Alex. "Here, you'll need this. I already memorized what I need to know." He smirked.

"We'll see about that." Alex took the script from Nate's hands and flipped it open to the right page. "Your cue." she signaled.

"**I don't think I can take this any longer.**" Nate confessed in a quiet voice, his eyes locking in with Alex's.

Alex took a quick glimpse at her lines before looking back at Nate, a confused look etched onto her face. "**What are you talking about?**" she asked.

Nate leaned in so that their faces were just mere inches away. He intertwined his fingers with hers as another hand cupped her cheek, his thumb rubbing circles against her smooth skin. "**Don't play pretend with me. You know what I'm talking about.**" he continued on, the volume of his voice growing gentler and gentler by the word.

Alex immediately looked away, her eyes quickly growing watery. It wasn't soon until small tears began to slip out. Nate had to admit – his girlfriend was one heck of an actress. She was the only one he personally knew who was able to cry on the spot, a trick that takes years for many actors master. And yet, it was all natural for Alex Russo. Score one for Russo.

"**My life is perfectly fine. I don't need you putting me through this.**" she whispered, her voice trembling.

Nate turned her face so that they were looking directly at each other. "**I don't want to hurt you, but I'm just going to say this because you have the right to know.**" Alex gave him a weak look, as if she was mentally pleading him not to speak anymore. But Nate's character didn't listen. "**I love you.**"

With that, Nate pressed his lips softly against Alex's, kissing her with delightful passion. Out of instinct, Alex wrapped her arms around Nate's neck, kissing him back eagerly. And their little skit was over. They weren't characters, kissing passionately as if they were never going to meet again. No, they were Nate Gray and Alex Russo: two _stubborn _teenagers with a fiery love.

"So how did I do?" Nate whispered against Alex's lips.

"Perfect." Alex admitted with a peck. "But there is no way you are kissing another girl, especially if you're going to kiss her like _this_. I'm gonna have to talk to your writers about having your script rewritten." she said seriously.

Nate laughed and placed another chaste kiss on her lips. "Well I'm fine with that. I just needed you to say that I am the all-time master of singing _and _acting." Nate smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're good at both." Alex rolled her eyes.

Nate smirked triumphantly. "Oh, and I had to hear you confess the fact that you are jealous of me and my on-screen girlfriend." Score for Nate Gray.


End file.
